New U.S. Pair: Rockne Brubaker & Lindsay Davis

[Ziggy]

She's overweight like Jamie Sale was overweight from 2000 - 2002 - which is to say, NOT. AT. ALL.

The point PairSk8Fan made stands though. She looks bigger than the other Pairs girls and it's something that might stand out like a sore thumb.

I would personally hope that judges won't care (because seriously she's fine, just doesn't have the typical pairs girl stick thin build) but who knows.

[aftershocks]

Aside from some Asians, some young juniors and a few other female pairs skaters (including Vera Bazarova) I don't think most female pairs skaters or singles ladies or ice dance ladies have a "typical pairs girl stick thin built," especially not after puberty! Everyone comes in different shapes and sizes - that's what makes the World go round (altho' it doesn't appear to do much for World peace). Neither Keauna nor Mary Beth have a stick-thin built, nor does Marissa Castelli, Caydee Denney, Alexa Scimeca, Felicia Zhang, Tiffany Vise, Kiri Baga, Megan Duhamel, Kirsten Moore-Towers, Stefania Berton, Tatiana Volosozhar, Caitlin Yankowskas, Aliona Savchenko, nor even Gretchen Donlan or Meryl Davis, or Tessa Virtue, or .... the list goes on.

Certainly this season, neither U.S. nor international judges seemed to have been the least bit bothered by Lindsay's size or shape. I think they were most concentrated on how Lindsay and her former partner, Mark Ladwig, performed their elements together. Mark and Lindsay fared decently well this season. And I think the prospects are quite good for Lindsay's new pairing with Rockne, especially with them focusing on the same goals and working hard together.

Surely God have mercy, anything Lindsay and Rockne can do together will be gravy after some of the comments in this thread.

Stand out with yo' seriously fine self, Lindsay Davis, and Rock-It with Rockne!

ETA:
Before this thread comes to an end, maybe fans will be inspired to make posters and t-shirts with the slogan Rock-It With Rockne, Lindsay Davis!!! Either that or maybe we'll all get together and pray for World peace!

[stjeaskategym]

Pair relationships and break-ups involve a lot of different factors. IMO, problems and break-ups generally should not be looked at in simple black and white terms, or considered to be the fault of one partner’s ego. It’s usually a lot more complicated than that.

I agree, it's always more complicated than that. Very rarely (maybe not ever) can you place blame on one partner. A pair team is a unit. Discussing the challenges pair teams have experienced shouldn't be confused with placing "blame" on one partner only. As I said before, I don't think it's necessarily easy to skate with Rockne, for some reasons that are not his fault.

IThere’s no reason to jump to all kinds of conclusions and assess blame on one partner or the other re either Keauna and Rockne, or Mary Beth and Rockne. Mary Beth never gave specific reasons why she decided to stop skating, and that’s her right. It probably had more to do with her desire as a young person who is still maturing emotionally, to just do something else with her life.

Usually when skaters at this level decide to "just do something else with their lives" at random times it's because things were going wrong in what they were doing beforehand. They don't just wake up one day and say "Everything in skating is going so well and I really like it, let me just do something else now". There are of course things that happen that lead to them being unhappy and/or compel them to leave the sport. Often these things aren't scandalous, outrageous, or anything really out of the ordinary and can be discussed in some capacity.

One thing that might still be irksome to them both is to know that their former partnerships with Rockne are constantly being examined and gossiped about on skating message boards. So maybe fans (including myself) need to just get past it too, and appreciate the positives of those partnerships.

Isn't the point of a message board to examine skating related things? If nobody's talking about your partnership anymore, it probably wasn't very noteworthy. Mentions of Rockne's former partnerships are relevant as he enters another partnership. It's not like he was a singles skater... We gauge his skating based on what he did with other people. In a thread about a pair that hasn't started yet, all you can really do is speculate as to what the strengths/weaknesses of the team may be, what things may be challenging for them, what difficulties they may have run into in previous partnerships (and if it's possible to learn from them), etc.

[skatemommy]

[QUOTE=aftershocks;3851296]

Having that desire is not unusual, and it’s one of the reasons why a lot of break-ups happen in figure skating. For example, young ice dancers, Jamie Silverstein and Justin Pekarek, had great success as juniors and they appeared to be having a wonderful start to their senior career when they broke up, apparently after Justin decided he wanted to do something else with his life. It was a difficult adjustment for Jamie who was also battling eating disorders, but she eventually came back to win a bronze medal at U.S. Nats with Ryan O’Meara, and go to the 2006 Olympics. Jamie left skating again to reassess what she wanted to do with her life, and she is now The Grinning Yogi in Seattle, Washington.
http://www.thegrinningyogi.com/portfolio/meet-jamie/

Wow, this is a really simplistic version of reality. "Battling eating disorders" and full blowned anorexia are two different things. And yes it happened while she was still partnered with Justin.

[aftershocks]

^^ Yes, Jamie's situation is individual and the thread is not about her. In any case, I'd heard that Justin was interested in pursuing other endeavors outside of the skating world and that was one of my points, along with mentioning the fact of Jamie seemingly finding meaning and purpose after skating, as The Grinning Yogi.

[BreakfastClub]

Having that desire is not unusual, and it’s one of the reasons why a lot of break-ups happen in figure skating. For example, young ice dancers, Jamie Silverstein and Justin Pekarek, had great success as juniors and they appeared to be having a wonderful start to their senior career when they broke up, apparently after Justin decided he wanted to do something else with his life. It was a difficult adjustment for Jamie who was also battling eating disorders, but she eventually came back to win a bronze medal at U.S. Nats with Ryan O’Meara, and go to the 2006 Olympics. Jamie left skating again to reassess what she wanted to do with her life, and she is now The Grinning Yogi in Seattle, Washington.
http://www.thegrinningyogi.com/portfolio/meet-jamie/

Wow, this is a really simplistic version of reality. "Battling eating disorders" and full blowned anorexia are two different things. And yes it happened while she was still partnered with Justin.

And it's all wrong too, considering Jamie was the one who had a complete mental breakdown in 2000 and ended the partnership, not Justin. Justin ended up partnering and competing (much less successfully) with girlfriend Hilary Gibbons, while Jamie hung up her skates completely for 4 years. My recollection was that she went back to skating in 2005 as a therapeutic act without any particular competitive goals, actually asked Justin if they could get back together (and he declined already with Gibbons) and things just happened to fall into place with O'Meara available. Once she and O'Meara competed at the Olympics, she had conquered a particular demon and was able to keep moving forward. I don't believe there was ever a declared intent for a long-term partnership there.

[aftershocks]

^^ Thanks for clearing that up! My bad re thinking the Silverstein/Pekarek break-up was due to Justin being interested in other pursuits, per pr mentioned at the time. Still, young skaters having the desire to pursue other goals is part of the reason for some fs break-ups, but Jamie and Justin are not a pertinent example, as you've demonstrated. Wonderful though that Jamie came back to skating and made it to the Olympics before starting a successful yoga business.

… As I said before, I don't think it's necessarily easy to skate with Rockne, for some reasons that are not his fault…

Then lawdy, ain’t it a good thing that you, in fact, don’t have to skate with Mr. Rockne Brubaker!

Me, I’d love to get some skating instruction from Rockne, at the least. That Stefania, what a lucky lady indeed! And, I’m sure Rockne feels like a lucky man re his engagement, his upcoming marriage, and his new on-ice partnership.

Usually when skaters at this level decide to "just do something else with their lives" at random times it's because things were going wrong in what they were doing beforehand. They don't just wake up one day and say "Everything in skating is going so well and I really like it, let me just do something else now"…

Hmmm, okay, but for instance, exactly what do ya think was “going wrong” in what Mary Beth was doing with Rockne on the ice? In fact, they were actually doing quite well results wise, and dancefan17 in her post #176 even provides a personal first-hand account of her knowledge and perceptions of Rockne’s relationship with Mary Beth.

Perhaps you’re a psychologist in your day job, and you might want to think about sending your CV to USFS re the possibility of mentoring some U.S. pairs, other than Rockne and Lindsay, of course, since they can just read your assessment of their pairing in this thread.

Isn't the point of a message board to examine skating related things? If nobody's talking about your partnership anymore, it probably wasn't very noteworthy. Mentions of Rockne's former partnerships are relevant as he enters another partnership. It's not like he was a singles skater... We gauge his skating based on what he did with other people. In a thread about a pair that hasn't started yet, all you can really do is speculate as to what the strengths/weaknesses of the team may be, what things may be challenging for them, what difficulties they may have run into in previous partnerships (and if it's possible to learn from them), etc.

Uh huh, well it seems as if you and some others are doing a fine microscope-examining job of it, mostly re Lindsay’s size and shape, btw. Maybe a full blown report or at least a summary of this thread should be in the offing to USFS and to ladies skaters everywhere.

[figureit]

Asians??(bad form)
OK well if your example was to highlight the differences in bodies of our pair girls than you did that but to say all of these girls are not stick thin is wayyy off base. Some of them are and you know when they are..and it can sometimes be a little scary how thin they are like Gretchen...whom has been off the ice treated for being "stick thin". Some others you mentioned are able to be very thin and maintain it and it is just how their bodies are...and how their metabolism works although Caitlin is very very very thin now check out her photo on Twitter...Lindsey does not have a typical stick thin frame and more power to her....as someone else mentioned Keauna also had to strictly watch what she ate and it may have played a part of her exit from pairs...and another poster brought up that a pair quit her partner due to anorexia...and so on. It is a serious issue it is obvious and someone like Meryl Davis, DeDe Leng, Alexa Scimeca, Felicha Zang, Megan Duhamel who are all very very slender and it seems natural to their body type...some of the others do not have that natural body type and maybe have to really watch what they eat and it is natural for their frame to just be a stronger more gymnast build...it is just how it is...then Gretchen is like that but the next year after starting pairs is tiny tiny tiny....TINY...noticeably so. The list does go on...everyone is different and you should embrace who you are...if you are not stick thin embrace it work it ...if you are embrace that and work it.

Lindsey is not stick thin, or very thin, or a thin frame...so what? You can notice it..it is visible but she can work that...it does affect line...but someone else mentioned that Rockne is a strong build too and their line will be more complimentary than say MBM..
International Judges did not treat D/L kindly...they struggled ALOT...but finally at Nationals pulled it together then BOOM. Still DOES anyone know what the problems where Lindsey had with Mark?? I so want to know and thus far no one has answered that....

Amen to :

Stand out with yo' seriously fine self, Lindsay Davis, and Rock-It with Rockne!

ETA:
Before this thread comes to an end, maybe fans will be inspired to make posters and t-shirts with the slogan Rock-It With Rockne, Lindsay Davis!!! Either that or maybe we'll all get together and pray for World peace![/QUOTE]

PLEASE No to the above they are a team his name certainly does not come first and a guys name should not in a pair...nor does it ever......her's should..!! but I guess in this pair they should announce Rockne first.just as your prospective t-shirt does..when they skate onto the ice?

[aftershocks]

^^ Ya got me, figureit. How about: Lindsay Davis, Rock-It With Rockne! (the order in which I first mentioned it a far ways a bit back in this thread). Is that any better for you?

In response to another poster, I said that IMO most ladies pairs and singles skaters are not stick thin, aside from some (not all) Asians, some young juniors etc., although maybe you would prefer the terms Chinese and Japanese, along with name specificity, such as Qing Pang, and Narumi Takahashi.

[figureit]

[QUOTE=aftershocks;3851724]^^ Ya got me, figureit. How about: Lindsay Davis, Rock-It With Rockne! (the order in which I first mentioned it a far ways a bit back in this thread). Is that any better for you?

Sure!

[LilJen]

Oh yeah: After Davis/Brubaker have solidified the world peace brought about by Kwan and Gracie Gold, they'll then proceed to reverse global warming and bring us all low-cost, earth friendly power sources. And they'll bring back the dinosaurs (but in a safe way, not in a Jurassic Park kind of way) so we can go for rides on them like in Land of the Lost.

[DarrellH]

Lindne?
Dabaker?
Rocksay?
Bruvis?

[MacMadame]

Lindne?
Dabaker?
Rocksay?
Bruvis?

Barfne

[A.H.Black]

Lindne?
Dabaker?
Rocksay?
Bruvis?

Brusays

[euterpe]

LindyRock

[aftershocks]

^^ Yeah, euterpe, I think, LindyRock, IT IS!


Say, din’ RuDaBake rock in Enticement vid?

[Sylvia]

Thanks to Ageless for posting this news in the U.S. Pairs thread today:

If anyone is interested, Rockne Brubaker and Lindsay Davis are scheduled to appear at the 2013 Oakton Ice Arena Ice Show, 4/26- 4/28, in Park Ridge, IL. Also Ryan Bradley. Here is the link for more information. There is no roster posted on the website, but I was at the rink this morning and confirmed they are planning on being there.

http://www.prparks.org/facilities/oakton-ice-arena

Lynn Rutherford tweeted on April 3:

Just interviewed Marina Zoueva on a range of topics. She is excited about Lindsay Davis&Rockne Brubaker's prospects: "They match perfectly"

[aftershocks]

^^ Thanks for posting. It's good to hear this early feedback from Marina Zoueva. Is she working with Lindsay and Rockne on choreo, btw? Marina confirms what is clearly evident in the YAS Felicia Beck-choreographed Enticement vid re how well LindyRock match physically and stylistically.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KF4SjCfl_tk

[olympic]

^^ Thanks for posting. It's good to hear this early feedback from Marina Zoueva. Is she working with Lindsay and Rockne on choreo, btw? Marina confirms what is clearly evident in the YAS Felicia Beck-choreographed Enticement vid re how well LindyRock match physically and stylistically.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KF4SjCfl_tk

I re-watched that video. Yes. D/B definitely have a superior artistic / choreographic advantage to M/B v1 and v2. I think since Marina works at the rink in MI where D/B train, she will probably be choreographing for them?

[Mayra]

^^ Thanks for posting. It's good to hear this early feedback from Marina Zoueva. Is she working with Lindsay and Rockne on choreo, btw? Marina confirms what is clearly evident in the YAS Felicia Beck-choreographed Enticement vid re how well LindyRock match physically and stylistically.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KF4SjCfl_tk

Thanks for the link! I'm really loving the YAS series.

Something tells me that the choreography that D&B will eventually get, probably won't be as interesting as what they showcased here.

Felicia Beck